Editorial: Legislation could be watershed moment in state

Posted: Thursday, February 04, 2010

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The devil still might be found in the details, but preliminary reports on major water-related legislation set to be introduced soon in the Georgia legislature hold some hope that Gov. Sonny Perdue and state lawmakers have, and will, give serious attention to one of the major issues facing the state.

Of course, it's been said that nothing focuses the mind like a deadline, and this state is facing a daunting 2012 deadline with regard to the use of Lake Lanier as a major water source for metropolitan Atlanta, the state's economic engine.

A recent federal ruling requires the states of Georgia, Alabama and Florida, in conjunction with the U.S. Congress, to come up with an agreement on use of the Chattahoochee River - which was impounded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to form Lake Lanier - by 2012, or Georgia faces losing access to the lake as a major water supply for metropolitan Atlanta, because supplying water wasn't one of the purposes for which Lanier was built.

Thus, for at least a couple of reasons - as a gesture of good faith toward the states of Alabama and Florida, and as a signal to Congress, where the Lanier issue might eventually wind up, that the state is a serious steward of its water - it behooves the governor and the legislature to take a proactive stance.

And that, judging from preliminary reports, is exactly the stance in which a bill backed by Perdue places the state. The legislation, scheduled to be filed soon by state Rep. Lynn Smith, R-Newnan, and Sen. Ross Tolleson, R-Perry - who chair the Natural Resources and Environment committees in their respective chambers - is, according to a Wednesday report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "packed with water conservation measures and a study of building new reservoirs."

According to the Atlanta newspaper's report, the bill "would force water utilities to detect leaks," require homebuilders to use low-flow plumbing fixtures, and "set standards for measuring water use for each unit in apartment buildings." The legislation is an outgrowth of a set of recommendations made by a task force appointed by Perdue in the wake of the federal ruling.

A somewhat more problematic feature of the legislation is that it reportedly will call for "a study committee to consider building new reservoirs or expanding existing ones," according to the Journal-Constitution. While building or expanding reservoirs might be a necessary step in ensuring that sections of the state that have experienced booming growth in recent years have adequate water, such moves almost certainly will affect the ability of downstream communities, which have similarly legitimate needs for the water, to handle population growth or to help ensure some possibility of economic development.

Still, the emphasis on conservation that is reportedly a major feature of the Perdue-backed legislation is an encouraging sign that the state is moving toward becoming a more serious steward of its water resources, albeit it's a new attitude that plainly has been forced on the state.

But, even as the public waits for additional details on the proposal announced this week by the governor, there are signs from elsewhere in the legislature that water conservation is on lawmakers' minds. For example, there's Senate Bill 311, sponsored by state Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth, with co-sponsors including local Sen. Ralph Hudgens, R-Hull. The legislation would require the state Environmental Protection Division to notify public water utilities it has determined are losing water, and give those utilities 90 days to provide the EPD with a plan for making necessary repairs. The proposal would allow intergovernmental contracts for making the repairs, giving the government that assisted in the repair the right to the recovered water capacity.

Additionally, state Rep. Debbie Buckner, D-Junction City, has filed legislation that would prohibit outdoor watering of vegetation, with the exception of new landscapes, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily.

While all of this legislation has a long road ahead before possibly being signed into law, the fact that it has been introduced at all suggests lawmakers are giving serious thought to at least one of the major issues facing the state.